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February 29, 2016

AT HOME With Mile High Style

Liz Finkelstein of Mile High Style has always said that “personal style is only one part of the people puzzle, one area we focus on and nurture as we try to become the big picture- our best selves.” So, in this New Year, Liz wants to shift from our external selves being the focus to the other puzzle parts that can help women become better mothers, wives, friends, professionals, and better for the most important relationship – with our own self. Liz is excited to announce AT HOME with Mile High Style, a speaker series featuring female experts on the topics of sex, nutrition, spirituality, parenting and food & wine. Liz will open the doors of her own home to help foster and intimate atmosphere where women can decompress, be pampered and focus on self-care. The speaker series dates into June, with two of the sessions taking place in March.

Via Perla Opening on Pearl Street

Via Perla, coming soon on the corner of Boulder’s 9th and Pearl Street will be the third restaurant from The Walnut Restaurant Group and the Romano Family, owners of Brasserie Ten Ten and The Mediterranean. Greg Topel, director of operations for the group, shared that the tentative plan is to open in mid-March. The menu, according to Topel, is “drawing its inspiration from all regions of Italy.” Peg Romano and executive chef Kingsford took trips to Italy to plan for the launch and recipe development of Via Perla, as authenticity is key to the team. Kingsford, who has been with Walnut Restaurant Group for seven years, is excited about the unique touches of the eatery which will include a merenda, which translates to snack time in Italian, daily from 3:30 to 6 p.m. A cena di famiglia, otherwise known as a family-style supper, will also be a highlight every Sunday from noon to 9 p.m., a timeframe that allows Via Perla to truly honor the leisurely Italian way of large family dinners. Guests can expect to find housemade pastas, seasonal proteins, locally farmed produce, and specially imported Italian provisions and delicacies that will grace the menu. Although not in its entirety, the menu will be rotated daily. The Italian restaurant is set a brand new building. Built and designed from scratch, Peg Romano helped combine antique touches alongside beautiful marble flooring and bar to the restaurant’s interior. The upscale restaurant is 4,000 square-feet and will offer 160 seats – 36 of which will be on their patio that faces the Flatirons.

Three-Day Theater Festival Coming to Boulder

LOCAL Theater Company, under the artistic leadership of Pesha Rudnick, will welcome three playwrights from across the country to Boulder for the 2016 LOCAL Lab New Play Fest. The three-day festival of new plays and master classes will be held at eTown Hall Friday-Sunday, March 11-13, 2016. Now in its fifth year, LOCAL Lab participants help playwrights shape their scripts. Following professionally-staged readings, attendees participate in discussions led by Jill Rafson, the director of new play development at Broadway’s renowned Roundabout Theatre Company in New York City. Festival-goers also attend parties with the writers and directors, enjoy music curated for each performance by DJ Savior Breath, and engage in a collaborative writing project using SmartPhones. New in 2016, festival-goers are invited into the rehearsal room as creators in a three-part workshop to develop a brand new work alongside artists from New York City, Los Angeles, London and Colorado. Led by LOCAL Associate Artistic Director Mare Trevathan and Jill Rafson, audiences become part of an ensemble working to create “Tone.”—a new play exploring how we make ourselves understood in the digital age. Also new this year, LOCAL is pleased to partner with Boulder’s Creede Repertory Theatre (CRT) to present a reading of Charlie Thurston’s “The History Room,” a funny, moving and magical play about aging and memory.

Great Western Bank Among the Best

Despite the growth of online banks with their competitive rates and low fees, traditional brick-and-mortal institutions still appeal to many Americans. In fact, nearly 30 percent of consumers cited convenient branch locations near where they live and work as the top reason for staying with their bank, according to a 2015 survey by consulting firm Accenture. Great Western Bank ranked as one of the top ten best banks in America for 2016 based on criteria such as “yields, fees or other terms on check, savings and one-year certificate of deposit accounts” and “products offered, including auto loans, mortgages, credit cards, investment services and insurance services.” Great Western Bank is one of only two banks in the current top ten to offer free checking. Not only that, but Great Western Bank is the only bank on the list to have the highest BauerFinancial Star Rating possible (5). The bank also offers free online banking and bill pay, with 24-hour phone banking and free mobile banking. Its savings account has an APY of just o0.01% and its 12-month CD has an APY of 0.15%. So although it only has branches in seven states, Colorado should be thrilled to be home many of those branches.

Fortuna Chocolate Bringing Everyone Together

Fortuna Chocolate of Boulder, Professor Nisao Ogata from the University of Veracruz in Mexico and a community of indigenous Mazateco farmers in Oaxaca had a very special harvest of cacao in January. Award winning Carmelo C-1, a varietal of cacao bean which until recently was grown exclusively in a tiny area of Tabasco for the world’s gourmet elite, among them Belgian chocolatier Pierre Marcolini and Spanish chef Albert Adrià, made it’s debut as a fine chocolate on the Boulder food scene in February. An inspiring example of international collaboration between farmers and scientists in Mexico and local Colorado chocolatiers, the first harvest of 44 acres of reforested land in the foothills of the Sierra Madre Mountains means success for an experiment years in the making. Beginning with Carmelo C-1 cuttings acquired at the original estate in Tabasco, 25 Mazateco farmers have spent the last few years training with Professor Ogata and his team to cultivate some of the world’s most delicious cacao. In January, the farmers fermented and dried their very first harvest of premium cacao before sending it to Fortuna Chocolate’s Mobile Tasting Lab, an elaborately converted P-30 step van now the company’s test kitchen, chocolate boutique and mobile production facility, located in Boulder. “We are honored to be a part of such an ambitious project and are looking forward to sharing this very special chocolate with Boulder,” says Fortuna Chocolate owner and Boulder native Sienna Trapp Bowie.

Boulder Philharmonic

April is a big month for the Boulder Philharmonic with the return of Cirque de la Symphonie on April 2, 2016 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. at Macky Auditorium. In Cirque de la Symphonie, the magic of the circus returns with fresh, new acts by aerial fliers, strongmen, acrobats, jugglers and contortionists sharing the stage with the Boulder Phil. This was an extremely popular, sold-out event when Cirque de la Symphonie last appeared with the Boulder Phil. Adults and children alike greatly enjoy this visual entertainment extravaganza featuring high-energy classical music.

Organic Sandwich Company Does Breakfast

Growing up in the midwest, Marcy Miller found herself eating her fair share of sandwiches. At home, her amazingly talented mom created a variety of meals made from fresh, high quality ingredients, many of which came straight from the family garden. And so a healthy lifestyle was set in motion. As food science and technology evolved, so did Marcy’s approach to eating. Noticing that ingredient lists of simple foods were growing at exponential rates, Marcy was perplexed. Add hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, and genetic engineering into the mix and Marcy was distraught. Fast forward a couple of decades when she began making meals for her two young boys and Marcy was changed forever. Having access to natural, local, and organic ingredients became a priority and a way of life. So, together, with her sister Bonnie, the dynamic duo created a vision that would set the stage for the Organic Sandwich Company. A place where you can get real food, that still tastes amazing. Now, the beloved Boulder sandwich company is proud to serve breakfast sandwiches, along with hot coffee and tea. Healthy food should begin when the day begins and the Organic Sandwich Company has a variety of perfect options.